Customers line up and purchase computers in shops along Gilmore Avenue, a known hub for desktop computers and laptops, in Quezon City on May 30, 2020. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File 

MANILA — Digital rights and media freedom advocates this month released separate but electoral agendas that they urged candidates to adopt to uphold freedom of speech, expression and of the press, and to help create a democratic and secure digital environment.

Digital rights advocacy organization Foundation for Media Alternatives on Wednesday released a 10-point digital rights electoral agenda to address the “rapid transformation and integration of digital technologies in our daily lives.”

According to FMA Executive Director Lisa Garcia, "current digitalization efforts of the government should go hand-in-hand with policies to promote, protect, and fulfill the rights of its citizens in all spaces including the digital space."  

Close to 40 media organizations and advocate groups earlier in April released a joint 10-point media electoral agenda as they reiterated that a free and independent media plays a vital role in democracy.

Among the signatories of the media electoral agenda are Altermidya – People’s Alternative Media Network, the Filipino Freelance Journalists’ Guild, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Photojournalists Center of the Philippines, Philippine Press Institute, and UP College of Media and Communication.

The Philippines ranked 134th among 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index 2024 compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

RSF noted then that “there seem to have been fewer and less violent attacks” against journalists, but the situation is still “worrisome”.  

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ELECTORAL AGENDAS CONVERGE ON FREEDOM OF INFORMATION, LABOR RIGHTS

Both electoral agendas call for the enactment of a Freedom of Information Act — covering all national and local government institutions — saying access to government information is vital in the reporting matters that concern public interests.

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According to signatories to the media electoral agenda, government agencies have been “unresponsive” to information requests filed in the state-established eFOI portal, in pursuit of the Executive Order No. 2 signed by then President Rodrigo Duterte in July 2016.

FMA pushed candidates to review the Labor Code to uphold the rights of online workers while the media freedom organizations sought the enactment of a Media Workers' Welfare Law to guarantee wages, benefits and hazard pay for media workers.

They also called for passage of a Human Rights Defenders law to help defend media workers and other rights defenders from harassment, including red-tagging.

FMA meanwhile said the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act should be amended to safeguard women and children from violence in the digital environment.

FIRM STAND AGAINST CENSORSHIP, SUPPRESSION

Both electoral agendas called for the decriminalization of libel, which has been used to prosecute 50 journalists between 2016 to March 2023, they said. 

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FMA also opposed proposed legislation against fake news "as they are easily abused and extremely difficult to implement," a position shared by the media freedom advocates, who said it would be better to "prohibit the use of public funds to hire and maintain disinformation networks."

The media groups also called for the repeal of the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act, which they said have led to the surveiilance and arrest of journalists.

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They also called for a "clear" policy against red-tagging, and the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict over red-tagging.

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ENACT LAWS ON DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

FMA included in their electoral agenda the review and update of laws on artificial intelligence and other technologies. 

The group said that AI can be easily misused due to its “dual use science,” citing generative models—used to create vaccines—that can also develop viruses. They said it is also prone to malfunctioning and loss of control. 

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FMA also encouraged candidates to consider amending the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act to include regulations on proper e-waste handling. 

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